the religion which might appear to them to have the beft claim to their regard. He had no apprehenfion that the divine legation of Mofes could be doubted, or fink in estimation, if they would attend at all to the proofs of it. Elijah made the like appeal to that people. "How long halt ye between two opinions? If "the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then "follow him." Indecifion on a fubject of fuch moment, being addicted to change, is a great reproach. It is a matter, in which, if in any thing, it behoves every foul to be fixed. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let not fuch a wavering character think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. His state of mind is as uncomfortable as it is difhonorable: It lays him open to every kind of impofition.

SECONDLY, we remark the abfurdity of intermixing different religions.

Ifrael, prone as they were to idolatry, on every occafion, meant not wholly to renounce the worship of the only living and true God. They would have blended his worship with pagan fuperftition. But the temple of God hath no agreement with idols. Every rival affection is idolatry. Thou fhalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Men would ferve two mafters. They would reconcile righteousness and unrighteousness. Forms are contended for, while judgment, mercy and fidelity are paffed over. Between its wishes and its religious duty a difhonest heart finds means to indulge evil affections, and yet keep all quiet within. An honeft heart, on the contrary, refolves to oppofe and mortify inward corruption. They who would unite contraries in religion, who are unfettled in it, or reft content with partial and fuperficial regards to it, resemble Ifrael who served the gods of other nations, while yet they pretended to worship Jehovah. Joshua's addrefs was the ftrongest recommendation of pure religion in oppofition to all idolatrous mixtures: It was a pointed reproof of them,

that, after having fworn allegiance to the true God, their heart was divided. This was an equal reproach to their understanding and to their hearts. For they had witneffed inconteftible proofs of the unity and fuperintendency of God, and had made frequent and most folemn engagements to cleave to him, and him only. THIRDLY, religion must be our own choice: It must have our own confent.

Give me thine heart. Choose whom ye will ferve.Faith is the affent both of the understanding and the heart. All attempts to compel religious belief are prepofterous. A flave may be compelled to fubmit to the master whom he hates. Religion is the service of a willing mind.

Joshua laid before his people the nature and the grounds of the fervice God requireth; the rewards of obedience and punishments of difobedience. He directed them to compare this fervice with that of other gods, and make their choice. Thus Mofes his predeceffor. "I have fet before you life and death, blefs❝ing and curfing. Therefore choofe life.". When the evidences of religion are laid before men, if they make a wrong judgment and choice, they must abide the confequence. Every one muft give account of himself to God, and therefore fhould be fully perfuaded in his own mind.

The right of judging and choofing for ourselves in religion is a right for the ufe of which we are accountable to God, and to him only. It is his command, Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Be ready always to give a reafon of the hope that is in you. Endowed with rational faculties, our duty is to use them in difcriminating between truth and error, good and evil-in the fearch of truths concerning God, his moral perfections and adminiftration-concerning the Mediator, his perfon and office-concerning man, his obligations to his Creator and Redeemer, to his fellow-creatures, and what he owes to his own foul-his

fall and recovery-the terms of falvation-the motives to holiness. It is our duty to use all means of inftruction in the things of God; the holy fcriptures, for inftance, and human helps. Confcience, though fubject to no human authority, is under law to God; fo that we can confide in our choice of religion no further than we are perfuaded that HE approves it. This perfuafion implies that the oracles of God have guided our choice that we have compared spiritual things with fpiritual.

The choice of religion means not an abfolute, but a comparative, neglect of other things. It is to love our God, our Saviour and our fouls more than other objects. It is oppofed alike to duplicity, inconftancy and indifference. It is a choice grounded on having fet down and counted the coft-a choice which will bear a review.

Take heed then that no man deceive you that ye do not deceive your ownfelves: For the heart is deceitful above all things. It has recourse to various fubterfuges and refuges of lies. In the choice of religion it is liable to confult with flesh and blood, with preju dices, connections, and worldly interefts. Humility, a defire to know and fubmit to the will of God, is the fureft guide to faving truth; the fureft guard against dangerous error. The meek God teacheth his way. He giveth liberally, and directeth that we ask wisdom of him. Until we are taught of him, we know nothing as we ought to know. The entrance of his word giveth light. If any walk not according to this word, there is no light in them. Thofe who have chosen the Lord to serve him, meditate in his word day and night: It is more precious than gold. God maketh much allowance for ignorance where the means of information are wanting. Ignorance hath no cloak where thefe means are enjoyed, but neglected. Thofe who have the beft advantages to become wife to falvation, but yet liften to the inftruction which caufeth to

err from the paths of wisdom, can give no other than this fad account of themselves, that they have not an heart to improve the price in their hands.

Religion is a reasonable fervice: The whole of it is comprehended in faith and love. Faith is not grounded on the wisdom or teftimony of man, but on the teftimony of God. Faith which receives his teftimony implies the love of the truth-a real, an earnest defire to know the way of falvation-a conviction of our natural blindness, and need of fupernatural inftruction. It fits at the feet of Jefus, and hears his words who spake as never man fpake. Ready to receive the law at his mouth, his "doctrine droppeth on the "heart as the rain; his fpeech diftilleth as the dew; "as the final rain upon the tender herb, and as the "fhowers upon the grafs." This is to choose the good part, which shall never be taken away.

The friends of religion fometimes juftly complain of obfcure, weak faith, and languor in their love. On fome occafions they have yielded to fear, or fhame. They have been overborne by ftrong temptation, caufed grief to the godly, and given occafion of triumph to the impious. But this is not their general character. It therefore may not be hence infered, that their profeffion of religion is mere affectation and hypocrify. The religious character is to be judged of, not from detached parts, not from occafional traits; but from the uniform tenor and fixed indications of it. It is of importance to cultivate a prefent as well as an habitual love to religion. The prefent exercife of grace is the best evidence of its reality.

Pious perfons differ in the degree of their attention to religion, and in their tempers. This difference notwithstanding, the choice of true religion has been really made alike by those who are weak in the faith and thofe who are strong-by those who have laid the foundation, and thofe who are going on to perfection-by thofe who are weary and ready to faint in

their minds, and those who are now fervent in fpiritby those who, in a preffing temptation, have been overcome, and brought reproach on religion, but have been foon recovered from their fall; and by those who have been preferved from any grofs fin.

Every perfon who weighs the fubject of religion, muft give the preference to fome one form. Charity teaches to think favorably of other forms, and to fuppofe that other minds may be beft improved by them; fome by this, others by that. Yet whofoever loves the Lord Jefus in fincerity, has reafons fatisfactory to his own mind for making his choice among different forms of worship--for felecting fome one as beft adapted to his own improvement-moft agreeable to what he has learned of Chrift. He will fee, indeed, that the form, which he thinks to be beft, is not without defects. He will allow that wife and good men embrace other forms. But the perfuafion of his own mind must govern his own conduct. He doth not contend for a particular mode of profeffion as though he thought it effential to the existence of religion. Nor is he fo indifferent, as to be a conformift to every form under which religion is profeffed.

FOURTHLY, religion admits of no delay. Choose you this day whom you will ferve.

The people who were here addreffed could not hefitate whom they were bound to ferve, whether the Lord Jehovah, or other gods. To attempt a compofition between true religion and falfe was opprobrious. To procraftinate in the choice must have been equivalent to a renunciation of the worship of the true God. If they were not for him, they were against him. Their government being a theocracy, idolatry was high treafon. Joshua enjoins it upon them to make their choice that very day, and while they were affembled before the Lord.

Shall religion, which is the firft and fupreme concern of every foul, be poftponed? If the thoughts of